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(VIDEO) How to Use an Asian Squat Toilet

If you’re a foreigner living or traveling in Asia, sometimes nature calls when you least expect it. And if you’re far from home, you’ll have to run to the nearest public restroom to take care of business. Unlike in western bathrooms, Asian toilets lack the comfort of the porcelain seat, so you’re gonna have to squat.

Last year, I posted the Step-by-Step Guide to Using an Asian Squat Toilet and it has become one of my most poopular posts. I decided that it would be a nice addition to the blog if I recreated the how-to guide as a video. Plus, it provided me the perfect chance to make a new funny video.

Bring toilet paper with you.

Squat Toilet Pro Tips:

Find a position that’s comfortable for you. I prefer to have my feet about shoulder width apart. Keep your feet flat in the ground. Don’t stand on the balls of your feet like a baseball umpire or you’ll run OOOUUUT of energy and your legs will start shaking.

Don’t squat too close to the front of the toilet, where the flat pan is. Aim for the back of the toilet, where the water is. Otherwise you might make a mess that’ll be hard to clean up. Your aim will improve the more you use the infamous squat toilet, and before you know it, you’ll be an expert marksman.

Don’t expect to be able to squat down and read a magazine or break your high score in Brick Breaker. Depending on your fitness level and how flexible you are, it can be exhausting after about 30 seconds of squat. Just get in there, take care of business, and get out.

Don’t be surprised if you walk into a bathroom and find no dividers between the toilets. As you can see in the video, squat toilets sometimes coexist in the same large stall. If you’re too shy to use a public restroom, you’ll just have to overcome your fear in the face of a bathroom emergency.

BRING TOILET PAPER. This is the most important pro tip. Squat toilet bathrooms in Asia will not have toilet paper, so carry some with you in your pocket or bag or whatever. Just bring it, otherwise you’ll have to get resourceful, and that might mean throwing away your favorite pair of Snoopy underpants.

No dividers, no problem.

Thanks for joining me in the bathroom today. I hope you had as much fun as I did learning about squat toilets. If you enjoyed the video, be sure to visit my YouTube channel and subscribe.

6 Comments

Hey I laughed at your vid – hilarious. Just some info, most bathrooms in Korea have toilet paper at the front and some of the ones in China that I have been to do as well [this is speaking for females – no idea what goes on in the men’s room].

Not sure why people are obsessed with bathroom stuff – my most popular post is about poop dreams…

The American Standard toilet bowl is better shaped for those with poor marksmanship since it forms a deeper pool of water in the center. The squatter requires a more dextrous approach since it’s flat shape and characteristically shoddy water pressure can often result in… streaks. And by streaks, I mean full-on, undaunted-by-a-single-flush turds. I’ve seen it with my own two eyes and it’s not pretty.